The Roman Mysteries: Journey to Rome
by axtra nonymous xxx
Summary: -Set after book 1- Flavia and co. are ready to set off for uncle Geminus farm, until, that is Flavia's father recieves a letter from an old friend inviting them to his home in Rome. Befor they have even set off trouble is brewing.Then, when all seems well, they take the wrong carridge! Can these friends survive when things go from bad to worse?-DISCOUNTINUED-
1. Chapter 1

**Scroll I **

It had been two weeks since Flavia, Jonathan, Nubia and Lupus had solved their first mystery together. Since then, however, things had changed. Two weeks before Flavia and her friends were set to arrive at Flavia's uncle's farm, Captain Geminus; Flavia's father received a letter from an old friend inviting him, family and friends to his villa in the centre of Rome.

Flavia was brimming with excitement, a holiday! Flavia could not remember the last time she'd been on a holiday outside of Ostia, in fact she could, it had been back when her mother was alive that was over 3 years ago now. So, now to gather her friends together and find out if they could come with her. She wondered if Jonathan's father would let him go on the journey. What about Lupus, as well? Jonathan's father might have some work for Lupus to do. Might he find someone else to do the work?

Flavia called at the front of Jonathan's house and the door was opened by his sister, Miriam. "Hello, Flavia. Do you want to see Jonathan?"

"I'd like to see Jonathan, Lupus and your father, if I may", replied Flavia. "I have a very important question to ask your father".

"Well, come in and I'll call them. Luckily, they're all here at the moment". Flavia entered the house and was still overcome with the strong smell of herbs and spices. Miriam showed her into Mordecai study were Flavia had been carried into when she had twisted her ankle. Jonathan's father was silently reading the Torah whilst the boys seemed to be "talking" on the long couch.

"Father, Flavia has a question she must ask you." Mordecai glanced over his shoulder then gestured for Flavia to take a seat, the boys looked up and both offered Flavia warm smiles. Flavia pulled out a small scroll and stood in front of Mordecai and his family.

"_Dear Gaius Flavius Gemini,_

_Greetings! Dear friend we have not met since the ides of September 3 years ago, a month before your beloved Mrytilla passed away to the underworld. I now invite you, your lovely daughter and any close friends of yours to attend my humble villa in the centre of Rome. I invite you to stay with my household for three nights, during this time I will show you all the wonders of Rome. I sincerely hope you can attend._

_Signed,_

_Your dear friend_

_Claudius._"

Flavia let out a deep sigh of relief. "My father was wondering if your household would like to be our guest of honour."

Mordecai looked deep in thought for a moment.

"Flavia, I am afraid to say I will be unable to attend the event, however, Jonathan and Lupus may attend under these conditions. Miriam will accompany you. She must know at all times where you are and what you are doing." For a brief moment everything was silent then the whole room seemed to erupt.

"Thank you so much father! I promise I'll obey the rules at all times. I swear!" Jonathan promised. Lupus nodded vigorously, showing us he agreed with what Jonathan was saying. Suddenly, Lupus' smile faded.

"What's wrong Lupus?" Flavia asked with concern. Lupus pointed towards Miriam who looked upset and left out.

"Miriam, what's wrong?" Jonathan asked curiously

"Farther, I don't think I can go. What if you need help and I'm not here-"

Miriam was interrupted by her father raising his hand signalling her to hush.

"Miriam, it will do you good to get away, please for me." Miriam still looked unsure so Flavia quickly added "If your father does need help I'm sure Alma and Caudex wouldn't mind coming round."

Miriam looked a little happier and agreed to come. Flavia then took Lupus and Jonathan back to her house to tell Nubia the good news. Nubia had been out grocery shopping with Alma. She always loved getting up early to go; it was just extremely annoying when she missed important news.

Flavia knocked hard on her door expecting Caudex to slowly open it. So she was surprised when the door swung open and Nubia was standing there smiling. However, when Nubia saw the depressed looks on her friends' faces she immediately became concerned. "What wrong Flavia?" Nubia asked her voice full of apprehension.

"Well, you see there's a problem with Jonathan and Lupus coming." Flavia started to explain.

"What the problem?" Nubia said, then realising her mistake she corrected "What is the problem?" Flavia smiled slightly at this, Nubia was getting somewhere with her Latin. Finally!

"Miriam."

Nubia looked confused "What wrong with Miriam? Is she sick?" Nubia asked curiously.

"No" sighed Jonathan "But she's just going to mother me!" Nubia turned her attention to Lupus who was sniggering.

"See!" cried Jonathan "He knows how bad she gets!"

"Jonathan, stop complaining. At least you have mother." After Nubia finished speaking Jonathan saw both Nubia and Lupus looking down at the ground. That was when he realised how stupid he was being. He walked up to Nubia and put his arm around her shoulders.

"I'm sorry Nubia; to both of you, I guess it's just a bit weird for me." Jonathan then heard a loud cough from in front of him. "Flavia," he sighed. "At least you have a father; Nubia and Lupus don't have anybody."

Flavia looked extremely annoyed "But Jonathan! My mother died when I was younger! At least they have us now .Their old families don't matter anymore, right Nubia?" It then dawned upon Flavia that what she had said was extremely unkind and horrible. Nubia had immediately burst into tears and was now being comforted by Jonathan. Lupus, however, had taken of like an arrow from a bow and was nowhere to be seen.

Flavia sighed, everything had been perfect. Her best friends were coming with her to Rome, Nubia's Latin was rapidly improving, and Lupus was starting to trust them more. Then, she with her big mouth had wasted it all. Jonathan probably wasn't going to come on the trip, Nubia's confidence had been dramatically thrown and Lupus, if he even came back, was probably never going to trust her again.

"Flavia! You have such a big mouth," She said to herself under her breath "You have one day to fix everything! Start as soon as you can!"


	2. Chapter 2

** SCROLL II**

After a sleepless night Flavia decided that if she was going to patch up her friendships then she best start as soon as possible. Once she was dressed and ready she picked up a wax tablet and wrote on three names:

_Nubia._

_Jonathan._

_Lupus. _

"First up, Nubia." Flavia said to herself, getting ready to talk to one of the nicest girls she'd met, and also the one whose spirit she was sure she had broken.

Flavia walked into the kitchen, just in time to see Alma, her cook, preparing breakfast.

"Good morning Alma!" Flavia said cheerfully. Her old nurse turned around a sad look on her face.

"Flavia, I'm disappointed in you. I don't know if you heard her, but Nubia was sobbing half the night. If you want to make amends, which I strongly suggest you do, she's in the inner garden with Nipur."

Flavia, her face reddening and looking down towards the floor, shuffled towards the door. She stopped and turned her head towards Alma. "I'm so sorry for what I've done, Alma, and I mean to put it right. It's just that at this very moment, I'm not sure what to say to Nubia".

"You simply have to tell her that you are a silly, thoughtless, sometimes selfish girl who often speaks before she thinks and sometimes doesn't even think!," Alma remarked, not even turning to acknowledge Flavia's astounded expression, "and…".

But before she could continue she noticed that Flavia was sobbing hysterically and had her fists clenched and pushed right into her eye sockets.

"Now, there, Flavia. Sometimes the truth will hurt. You know that. Now be positive and go to see Nubia".

Without replying Flavia started again for the door, her sobs still making her sound like a choking puppy. She departed the kitchen, crossed the courtyard and then saw Nubia, herself looking as if she had been crying, sitting and preparing some peas for the meal later.

"It looks as if you have been crying peas," said Flavia, trying to make a joke of what she saw. Nubia raised her head and Flavia saw that her eyes were red raw with all the crying and rubbing she had been doing throughout the night. Alma had followed Flavia into the garden and she said "You two look as if you are both standing in front of a mirror. Look at the sight of you. Eyes red, tears down your cheeks! Why don't you just make up?" She turned and left.

Nubia looked at Flavia's face. Flavia returned the gaze. "We do look frightful, don't we?"

"Full of fright?" said Nubia, misunderstanding the Latin.

"No. Dreadful and I don't mean full of dread!" Flavia stated smiling slightly through her tears.

"Oh, I get joke. It very funny. But, why? Why did you say that mine and Lupus's family don't matter? I no understand." Nubia said her eyes looking deep into Flavia's eyes, as if the answer would suddenly become clear.

"I don't know. I say things before I think; I never meant to hurt your feelings. Honestly! Please can you find it in your huge, caring, kind, unselfish heart to forgive me?" Flavia said, pleading in her voice and eyes.

"I think that very possible." Nubia said, smiling broadly at her friend. The two girls embraced each other showing no grudge was born . After what seemed like forever the friends parted and Flavia said, "Now, I've got to make up with Jonathan and Lupus. You will come with me, won't you?"

"Of course! You are all my friends, why would I stay here?" Nubia said brightly.

Off the pair went, skipping and jumping as they crossed the garden. The misunderstanding had been forgotten in an instant.

"We're going to find Jonathan!" Flavia shouted over her shoulder so that Alma would know where she was going.

"I'll have to do the rest of the peas myself, then," muttered Alma to herself.

Flavia took a deep breath and knocked hard on Jonathan's front door. She knocked once. She knocked twice. After what seemed like a lifetime, Flavia heard the door opening from inside. A few seconds later Miriam's face appeared from behind the door. Unlike usual though it was expressionless, but Flavia could tell she'd been crying because her eyes and cheeks were red.

"Yes, Flavia. What do you want?" She asked sadly.

"Oh, Miriam! What's wrong? But to answer your question I'm here to see Jonathan, I acted so stupidly yesterday and I wish to apologise."

Miriam smiled slightly and her face relaxed. "Flavia the damage has been done. But I'm sure that Jonathan will be much happier when you apologise."

Flavia smiled, glad that there was a chance that she could make amends. Nubia, however, looked extremely concerned. "Miriam, what wrong?" Nubia cried.

"Lupus hasn't come back yet. There's no sign of him anywhere, we've looked all over the market place and the graveyard. We think he's gone for good." She explained sadly, fresh tears appearing in her eyes.

Meanwhile Jonathan had spread the area of his search. He had asked everyone he had seen about whether they had seen a young boy anywhere. Some people had been very scornful as there were lots of young boys in the town. The more Jonathan asked, the worse his description of what Lupus looked like became. Other people had tried to be helpful, but all their help had been fruitless.

He was tired and he sat down next to a drinking well. He looked at his reflection in the water and just as he was dipping his hands into the cold, refreshing liquid he saw another face in the disturbance. He rapidly jumped up and turned to see Flavia and Nubia there. "What do you want?" he directed his question nastily to Flavia, but then realised that she and Nubia seemed to be on good terms. "What's going on? Are you two friends again? What are you doing here?"

"Enough, enough questions!" said Flavia. "I've come to apologise and beg for your forgiveness. And then we can all mount a search for Lupus."

Jonathan looked at Nubia, who smiled and nodded to him, willing him to accept Flavia's apology. "OK, then" was his short comment. Why waste good breath on stating the obvious, he thought. "Let's get on with hunt, then" he said out loud. "The next best place to look is the harbour".

The three of them walked down to the harbour, though Jonathan still hadn't completely forgiven Flavia and looked around, half expecting there to be nothing. Just as they were about to backtrack Nubia spotted something.

"Behold! Small boy sitting on boat. Lupus?" At this statement both Jonathan and Flavia whipped round, within seconds they were running towards the dockside praying that it was Lupus.

The boy turned towards them and immediately they realised that he was tied to the mast. Lupus had been kidnapped. This wasn't unusual in the port. Some of the foreign ship captains would need to 'capture' some crew members to replace the ones that went ashore and never came back. Sometimes young boys would disappear only to return many years later as grown men telling the tale of their fate. Sometimes they would never return and many a mother would grieve for her lost son for many years. Lupus had a really sad look on his face, and then he noticed Flavia. Flavia shouted and waved towards him. His face became void of all emotion. He turned away and looked down.

"It is Lupus!" Jonathan cried and raced even faster towards the boy. He ran along the quay and grabbed the arm of one of the harbour officials. "That's my friend on that boat. You must stop him being taken!"

The officials looked down at Jonathan and shrugged. "Nothing we can do now mate, run along now. He may be lucky and come back in a few years." One of them said half-heartedly.

Jonathan turned away looking defeated and tears sprung to Nubia's eyes. Flavia marched forward and stood in front of the Officials,

"My father is Captain Geminus and I believe he is highly respected, so I suggest you do something or else!" Flavia demanded.

The men just shrugged and turned as if to go. Flavia moved to Nubia's side and whispered to her. Nubia walked to overtake the men and then started to address them in her not-too-good Latin, "Behold, my friend's father really is a very important man". Unfortunately her words came out wrong, because she was so flustered. She actually said "Behold, my fiend's father is a chimney cleaner". The men fell about laughing and slapped each other on their backs. At this Nubia just smiled, she hadn't meant to make the men laugh but she had meant to distract them so that Flavia could steal a boat to mount a rescue attempt for Lupus.

Indeed, while Nubia had been keeping the men occupied, Flavia had been untying the ropes that held a little dinghy to the quayside. Jonathan was looking on in disbelief. "What are you doing, Flavia? You can't sail that!"

"Oh, but I can," she replied, "You just watch me. Are you coming too, or do I have to save Lupus on my own?"

Jonathan opened his mouth to say something but then had to gasp for air as Nubia pushed him very firmly in the back and shouted "Go with Flavia, Jonathan! Go!" He had no choice as Nubia had pushed right to the edge of the quay and he was overbalancing. It was either leap for the boat or get very wet.

He leapt and just made it into the dinghy. He then took control because he could manage a small boat. They quickly had the sail in place and were moving fast towards the large ship.

Back on land the two men were shouting to the children to come back. Nubia said to them "You'll be in terrible trouble if Flavia or Jonathan come to any harm. Her father really is important and full of power." This time her Latin was almost perfect and the two men looked at each other and nodded. They turned and went over to another group of sailors and ordered one to make his boat ready to follow the ship and stop it.

Soon they were making good headway and were gaining on both the dinghy and the ship. They caught up with the two children and got them on board the boat and took the dinghy in tow. After some harsh words were said, they buckled down to the job of catching the kidnappers.

Once they were alongside the ship they hailed the Captain and asked him to heave to so they could talk to him. One of the men said to Flavia and Jonathan "You two stay here and leave this to us". The two children nodded their agreement and moved away from the side of the boat. A rope ladder was sent down from the ship and the two men clambered up an on board.

The ship's Captain said "What is the purpose of this delay in my voyage?"

"Sir, we regret to inform you that one of your crew members is here illegally." Began the first solider as he tried to take control of the situation. The captain was a large, tall man with a thick black beard. He was obviously not happy with what the solider had said, "What!?" he bellowed "Sir, every member of my crew here are legally allowed to be here!" The first solider took a small step back the man was intimidating him. The second solider stepped forward. "Except that one." He stated calmly. His hand gesturing to Lupus, "The boy must be 12 years old and no less. If he is younger I may have to report you to the harbour master." He stated keeping his voice as calm and stable as possible.

The captain smiled and said "Oh, that boy is! He is just small and underweight you see, I'm doing the boy a favour. No one cares about him." Flavia was disgusted at what the man said. She stood up abruptly, sending the boat rocking alarmingly. She stated "He's not 12! He's 8! How could a 12 year old be that thin and small? And he has got people who care about him. Us!" Her voice seemed to spit venom at her last word and Jonathan reached up, grabbed her arm and forcefully pulled her down. He was terrified at the thought of starting a scene.

The captain shot Flavia an evil look , but then turned his attention to the Soldiers. "Look" began the soldier who had begun the conversation "we believe we can come to a compromise." Flavia saw relief wash over the captain's face. He gestured to his cabin and opened the door for the soldiers stating that they could negotiate inside, in private.

As soon as the captain disappeared and the crew members retreated downstairs out of the midday heat Flavia turned to Jonathan and asked in a cheery voice "Help me up then, Jonathan will you?" as she placed the tips of her fingers into a small crack in the side. Jonathan had leaned back and closed his eyes as she said this he sat straight up and squinting in the sun answered "What?"

Flavia rolled her eyes and took her hands out of the crack, she sat down opposite Jonathan and began to explain " A few years ago pater gave Alma and Caudex a week off work to thank them for what they'd done-" Flavia started but Jonathan cut in "What does that have to do with anything?" he asked. Flavia rolled her eyes again "I didn't finish." She told him "Any whey, pater had some more sailing and trading to do so he decided to drop me off at my Uncle Gaius'. On the way he had to pick up a large batch of crayfish to sell. We barely made it out of port when the authorities stopped us, some people had been illegally transporting crayfish from the island and they wanted to check paters load. They disappeared into pater's cabin and didn't come out for 3 hours!"

Jonathan looked at her and dropped his head back "Looks like we have a long wait then." He commented absent-mindedly. A twinkle appeared in Flavia's eye. "No, you lift me up on the deck then I'll pull you up. We then sneak up the mast and free Lupus ourselves, got it?" she asked him. Jonathan's mouth was hanging wide open. "No! Flavia that's illegal! What if we get caught?" he said urgently. "It's to save Lupus though, please for me?" She asked pleadingly.

"Oh alright" Jonathan commented defeated. "But you need to hoist me up, you can't lift me." He told her. Agreeing on his plan Flavia locked her fingers together and braced herself. Jonathan found the crack in the ship slipped his fingers into it and placed his foot in Flavia's hands. Together they managed to get Jonathan over the ships edge. Once Jonathan was over the side he turned round and offered his hands to Flavia. She gripped his hands hard and she half-climbed (and was half-pulled by Jonathan) over the edge.

Flavia looked around carefully to make sure that there were no sailors left on deck. The only thing she spotted was a mop left discarded by the door to below decks. The door looked pretty solid and had two sections with a looped handle on each part. She picked up the mop and slid it through the handles. "That should delay them a little" she whispered to Jonathan. "Quick, let's get Lupus free!"

They both moved carefully across the deck, trying not to make any noise or slip on the wet decking. They had to manoeuvre around barrels and step over coils of rope, but they slowly got there.

"Don't make a sound!" Flavia hissed at Lupus. Jonathan looked at her as if she was mad. Lupus rolled his eyes.

They soon made short work of the knots in the rope. Lupus probably could have wriggled free himself if he had tried, thought Flavia.

The three of them then crept back to the rope ladder, threw it down to the boat and climbed down.

"What do we do now?" asked Jonathan.

Before Flavia could answer they heard banging from the boat. The ship's Captain must be trying to get on deck. Quickly they unhitched the boat and let it slide away from the ship. Flavia called down to the sailors "Hey we have been cut adrift! The soldiers said we should go back to shore and get more of them". One by one the sailors came on deck, squinting in the sunshine and slowly taking up their positions. Lupus took hold of the oars and made fast work of the sea. "This is a rum do," said one of them, but the lure of the bar back on land led them to make haste and turn the boat around heading away from the ship. They could hear some shouting behind them, but it was too indistinct to make out what was being said and they ignored it.

As soon as the boat touched the land all the sailors dispersed into the bars closest to the dockside. The trio left the boat last and fearing the sailors might figure out that they'd been tricked they hid behind five large wine containers that were to be shipped that evening. Jonathan quickly scanned the surrounding area and elbowed Flavia. He seemed to elbow her a little more forcefully than intended because she flew backwards knocking into Lupus who flew out from the barrels. The sailors seemed to have figured out they'd been tricked for they were scanning the docks and calling out threats and insults. Lupus reacted with instinct; he put his head down and pretended to stifle a yawn. If the sailors had looked his way they would have only seen a sleepy beggar boy. The sailors' attention was grabbed by the boat that held the captain was slowly turning round. The second that all the sailors turned away Lupus darted back behind the barrels.

Lupus gave Flavia his bug eyed look which indicated "what was that for?" Flavia smiled apologetically before turning to Jonathan "Lupus is right, what was that for?" she asked him curiously. "I've just noticed, Nubia's not here!" he protested. Flavia froze on the spot and her hand flew to her mouth "No!" she cried "If Lupus was taken easily then who's to say she wasn't! Oh no! It's all my fault…" she would have continued but Lupus was pulling on her arm, hard. He pointed in front of them. Coming towards them was none other than Nubia with a huge smile plastered on her face.

She quickly darted behind the barrels and the smile didn't leave her lips. "You find Lupus!" she cried happily and Lupus showed her a small smile. He then pointed to a small object around Nubia's neck, asking her what it was. Her smile grew wider and she told them "Whilst you save Lupus. I went and bought flute we saw Flavia from man from my country. We talked in my language. It was good." She was obliviously overjoyed about this small event. Jonathan patted her on the back and said "Good for you Nubia, that's really great." Flavia continued on by saying "It must be great to speak to someone from your own country." Lupus simply flashed her a smile and a thumbs up.

"We better get going then." Stated Flavia and the four friends quickly hurried out from behind the barrels and set off to Green Fountain Street. As they approached their houses Jonathan sighed and said "I don't know how we're going to explain this to father and Miriam. " Lupus looked at him and shrugged. They said there farewells to Flavia and Nubia and just before the two groups reached their own homes Flavia called "Don't forget to be here at noon, the carriage will be here then and it can't wait for you forever!" Jonathan turned and shouted back "Don't worry we'll be there!" Then the two groups disappeared into their separate houses.


End file.
